I'm FINALLY all caught up, so I can actually participate in this discussion in a meaningful way.
Actually it's the opposite in the UK, on holidays people expect more stuff to be shown on TV. For example, come the Christmas break, things ramp up and there's a ton of movies and specials on, unlike the USA where it happens two weeks before and then run repeats/crap over the holidays. It gets pretty competitive and often the highlight of the year. Hence the Who xmas specials, which often run on primetime on christmas day and have huge viewing figures.
It used to be that way here, too. When I was a kid in the 80s, you still had big specials and to-dos on TV around most of the major holidays. These days, the assumption seems to be that it's more cost-effective to re-run old films or old holiday specials on days when advertisers assume people won't be at home -- unless they're watching football on Thanksgiving or somesuch.
Man, if only that was a taboo subject here. It's getting WORSE here. The new concept being in-show commercials. For example, two characters get in a car to head somewhere, the passenger will say something like 'Hey bob, nice <insert car model>' and then the other replies with a paragraph selling the car. Some do it better than others, but I roll my eyes everytime.
Product placement is nothing new. When was the last time you saw a thread in the prop section for a BTTF Pepsi bottle, for example?
As for BBCA, they did make an exception and ran the Who Xmas special Xmas night. That was definitely unusual here. Here on holidays its like career suicide to air new content. I meant to say BBC wasn't fueled by commercials. One of those fingers working faster than my brain things
Yeah, that's what I was getting at. They don't often run NEW specials or new content on holidays here anymore. But they did, way back when.
River kills Omega (hinted strongly by all the logos in the last episode), he was was once a great Timelord before he went crazy and tried to destroy The Doctor.
Omega (Doctor Who) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
He was pretty bat**** insane well before the Doctor was born. The Doctor only stopped him several times before he could come back and take over again.
I don't think it's Omega, although if it IS, then we might be verging on some of the stuff that was allegedly intended in the
"Cartmel Masterplan." Where the Doctor, Rassilon, and Omega are sort of the three central figures of Gallifreyan history/religion. I don't think that's what's up here, though.
I too think it is Rory. Amy was driving the point about him being so great to Melody\River.
I think that's a distinct possibility. Not a guarantee, but it's a possibility. They're playing Rory up this season. He's less the goof, and now sort of a legendary figure within the one-and-one-half season arc we've got so far.
Except River wasn't the only one calling the one she killed "a Great Man" - in fact, the priest/solider was the first one to say she killed "a great man".
HOWEVER... I still think it fits and could be Rory. After all, Rory being "The Last Centurion" and waiting 2000 years makes him a great man, let alone his actions to get his wife back or anything he might yet do.
As for the comment about River's reactions to Rory and Amy, we don't know WHY she kills the person - it's obviously something she regrets (at least in part), but it might be something that ultimately is for the right reasons or maybe it's something she's come to terms with (imagine, as a time traveller, having to see the person you killed, alive and well).
I donno. I'm hoping for some kind of twist - that it's not as simple as it seems (River is the child in the suit, killing The Doctor [the 'great man'], but it somehow gets un-done).
Yeah, I think it's possible she's the child in the suit (I think it's pretty likely, actually). Bear in mind that in HER mind, she kills The Doctor. She SAYS she killed "A very good man. Best man I've ever known." But we don't know that for certain. We don't know for certain that the Doctor dies in his 11th phase.
Also, assuming we don't completely bin the entire 1963-1989 run, there IS still the Valeyard to consider. For those who haven't watched the 6th Doctor Trial of a Time Lord season, I won't say anymore, but those who have know what I'm getting at. Although some of that depends on how much you trust The Master.
Anyway, my point here is that RIVER could think she killed the Doctor (or Rory), but that doesn't necessarily make it true. Alternatively, she DID kill Rory, DIDN'T kill the Doctor, and is imprisoned for that.
Well they did reset the Universe....so they could figure out a way to not kill the Doctor. One simple way is that he was the Flesh Doctor not the Actual Doctor.
I doubt he will last 120 more years as this incarnation but who knows.
Mobius
I agree that the introduction of The Flesh as a concept is just a little too coincidental for purposes of dodging otherwise final deaths.
I could easily see that the "flesh" Doctor is the one killed, the "real" Doctor is still out there, and River kills Rory. Perhaps on purpose, perhaps accidentally, but a kill is a kill.
Anyway, I still think she's his wife. There are some other possibilities I'm kicking around, but they're pretty far out and one's a bit creepy while the other is a bit hard to manage continuity-wise.
